2025 MG ZS: Cheaper petrol options of new SUV coming as stock of old model dries up

MG says it expects to have enough stock of its current petrol-powered ZS and ZST to tide it over until replacements come next year.

The new-generation ZS is launching this month exclusively with hybrid power, but petrol versions will follow in the first quarter of 2025.

There will be a choice of two different petrol engines: one naturally aspirated and one turbocharged.

These haven’t been detailed thus far, but a look at Australian government approval documents reveals the naturally aspirated engine to be a 1.5-litre unit producing 81kW of power, mated with a continuously variable transmission.

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That suggests the new ZS will use the same 1.5-litre engine as the new-generation MG 3, with which it shares its platform.

“Production has ceased of the ZS and the ZST. We still have stock around that will see us through to probably – depending on the demand obviously – January and February next year,” said MG Motor Australia chief commercial officer Giles Belcher.

“So we expect a pretty seamless changeover from petrol to petrol.”

That’s in contrast with the new MG 3. MG said at its launch in June that it expected supply of the older car to still be available until December.

The outgoing ZS lineup includes not only the cut-price ZS, but also the ZST – an updated version with tweaked styling and more safety equipment – plus the electric ZS EV.

The ZS Excite is the most affordable member of the wider ZS lineup, powered by a naturally aspirated 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine with 84kW and 150Nm that’s mated with a four-speed auto.

The ZST range opens with the same engine, albeit mated with a CVT, while up-spec ZSTs use a 115kW/230Nm turbo 1.3-litre three-cylinder petrol.

MG markets the ZS, ZST and ZS EV separately, but they all fall under the same entry in monthly VFACTS industry sales reports. Combined, the ZS family is Australia’s best-selling small SUV.

The ZS EV will also be replaced in the second quarter of 2025 with the new ES5, which uses a different platform to the new-generation ZS.

In the first half of this year, the ZS EV accounted for just 5.4 per cent of total MG ZS sales. While there won’t be another generation of ZS EV, there will be – for the first time in Australia – a hybrid option.

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